SHANNON FORRESTER

Artist Statement
Paining, drawing, and collage, as defined broadly, are the foundations of my artistic practice. They become lenses, mobilized as tools, ideally to be subsequently realized as embodiments, through which sociological, theoretical, and psychological ideas are visualized. My paintings often exist in a mythical, symbiotic, and symbolic realm where interior and exterior come together to create a whole. Figures are used in a variety of modes; they become icons, signifiers, memories, and champions. The paintings often examine intense moments of human experience: expectation, love, acceptance, rejection, marginalization, and hope. The work explores how these elements of intensity intersect, evolve, and unravel in concert with constructs of identity at the intersection of individual as well as social contexts. My practice is informed by research in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGS). Traversing theoretical and practice-based inquiry in my artistic research, I use theories from the transdisciplinary WGS field to examine hidden dynamics informing relationships between individuals, as well as between the individual and society, exploring how cultural pillars of identity are activated. 

www.shannonforrester.com

CV